What you can recycle
Remember to make sure items for recycling are:
- Clean: free from food and drink leftovers - this will also help to stop your bin from smelling
- Dry: keep your recycling bin lid shut - soggy paper and cardboard can't be recycled and can clog up machinery when sorted
- Loose: not tied up in plastic bags
- Squashed flat: you can then get more in your bin and we can get more into our recycling collection vehicles and make fewer trips
Find out what you can (and can't) recycle:
See also:
Things you can recycle: Mixed paper and card
We can recycle:
- cardboard (flattened) - eg cereal boxes, egg boxes, food packaging sleeves, inner tubes from toilet and kitchen rolls
- corrugated cardboard (cut or torn up to fit in your wheelie bin) - eg online shopping home delivery boxes, or larger moving home boxes
- pizza boxes - as long as they are clean with no grease soaked in
- greetings cards - without glitter, although a small amount is fine
- catalogues and telephone directories
- junk mail and envelopes - including with windows
- magazines
- newspapers
- paper
- wrapping paper - if it passes the scrunch test! Scrunch the paper in your hand. If it stays scrunched up it doesn't contain any plastic and can be recycled. If it springs back open it contains plastic and can't
- coffee cups
We can't recycle:
- padded envelopes
- paper towels
- tissues
- photos
- shiny / foiled / metallic wrapping paper (that doesn't pass the scrunch test)
- shredded paper - this clogs up our equipment, but can be put in your home composter or
- books - these can be taken to a charity shop or recycled at the tip
Things you can recycle: Metal cans and aerosols
We can recycle:
- aerosol cans - empty and with lid removed
- biscuit tins
- drink cans
- food cans
- metal lids from bottles and jars - removed and put loose in your bin
- See also: Foil and foil trays below
Note: For safety reasons please do not try to squash or pierce aerosol cans.
We can't recycle:
- baking trays
- batteries
- electrical items
- garden tools
- gas canisters
- knives
- wire coat hangers
- paint tins
- printer cartridges
- saucepans
- utensils
A lot of these items can be recycled at your local tip.
Household batteries can be recycled at many supermarkets and shops.
Things you can recycle: Plastic bottles, containers and packaging
We can recycle:
- plastic bottles - with lids removed as these can't be recycled
- plastic pots
- plastic tubs
- plastic lids from pots, tubs and jars - removed and put loose in your bin
- plastic food trays
- takeaway food containers
- blister medicine packaging
- Easter egg packaging
Note: Please remove as much food residue or oil as possible before it goes in your recycling bin.
We can't recycle:
- small plastic bottle tops - see note below
- plastic carrier bags
- food bags - eg for salad, chips, bread, crisps, etc
- plastic wrap
- bubble wrap
- polystyrene
- plastic coat hangers
- plastic toys
- printer cartridges
- garden plastics - eg plant pots, seed trays, tools etc
NOTE: Plastic bottle, jar or tin lids/tops:
- Smaller plastic bottle tops: such as squash or water bottle lids and milk bottle lids - these lids can't be recycled by us (we can take the plastic bottles though)
- Larger plastic jar or tin lids: such as coffee jar lids or coffee tin lids - these lids can be recycled by us - please put them loose in your bin (not on the jar or tin)
Things you can recycle: Glass bottles and jars
We can recycle:
- glass bottles - eg wine, beer, sauce, etc (any colour)
- glass jars - eg food, coffee, jam, etc
Note: Metal lids from bottles and jars can be recycled, but please take them off the bottle or jar and place them loose in your recycling bin.
We can't recycle:
- kitchenware - eg glass dishes or Pyrex
- drinking glasses
- glass vases
- microwave-proof glass
- milk bottles
- mirror glass
- oven-proof glass
- paperweights
- window glass
- spectacles (glasses) - most opticians will recycle your old glasses
- lightbulbs
- fluorescent tubes
- LED lightbulbs
- low energy lightbulbs
- ceramics
- crockery
Note: These all have different chemical properties to 'normal' bottle/jar type glass.
Things you can recycle: Foil - tin foil and foil containers
We can recycle:
- aluminium or tin foil
- aluminium or tin foil containers
- takeaway foil containers
Note: Please remove as much food residue or oil as possible before it goes in your recycling bin and scrunch the foil up (not folded).
We can't recycle:
- crisp packets
- shiny / foiled / metallic wrapping paper
- food pouches - eg baby food, pet food, soup, yoghurt, etc
Fat, oil and grease are 'unflushables' and the scourge of our drains:
- Let fat cool down until it is solid, wrap it up and put it in with your rubbish.
- Pour any used oil (once cool) into a container and take it to your local tip (Household Waste Recycling Site or HWRS) where it can be recycled.
- Wipe residual oil out of frying pans or oven trays with a paper towel and put it in with your rubbish.
- Even if you try to break down oil and grease with soap and hot water, it can re-solidify once it cools down blocking your drains and sewers.
To avoid blocking your drains, follow Southern Water's advice on:
Recycling other items
To find out how to dispose of any item please view Recycling A to Z - on the West Sussex County Council website.
If you are unable to take items yourself to a Tip (Household Waste Recycling Site), then our bulky waste collection service for a fee will be able to help you out.
Have you considered donating unwanted but usable items to charity, eg clothing, furniture, books, CDs, DVDs, etc?
Repair Cafes help repair clothes, toys, bicycles, laptops, computers, small household electronics/electricals, small furniture items and even offers knife/scissor sharpening. See:
Over The Moon are currently working on opening The Circular Space premises in Shoreham-by-Sea, which will have both a scrap store selling donated waste at low cost for creative reuse. See:
Meanwhile, Brighton based Tech Take Back and Revalu Electricals collect a wide-range of electrical items from old laptops to random bundles of cables. If they can't repair or upgrade your items for reuse, they'll be sent to their recycling partners who can extract raw materials for reuse in manufacture. See:
Closer to home Men in Sheds across Lancing & Sompting, Worthing and Fishersgate repair benches and planters as well as making items, such as bug hotels and bird houses, for play schools and parks and gratefully receive any tools, plus wood or surplus items from local builders or householders. See:
- Men in Sheds Lancing & Sompting website
- Men in Sheds Worthing website
- Men in Sheds Fishersgate website
Finally for bike repair and refurbishment try:
Did you know?
Small changes can make a difference and if every household in Adur and Worthing recycled ...
- 1 additional squash bottle per week the Council could save over £13,000 per year. These can be recycled into: bin liners, carrier bags, plastic bottles, flooring & window frames, insulation board, fencing & garden furniture, water butts, garden sheds, composters, seed trays, fleeces, fibre filling for duvets, pillows etc and a variety of office accessories
- 1 extra cola can per week, in one year could save over £7,000 on landfill tax
- Recycling just one extra wine bottle per month would save over £26,000. These can be recycled into new bottles and jars or used for road surfaces
- Aluminium foil, trays and aerosols are recycled into new cans and car parts
There is an ultimate cost of tax passed on to the council tax payer for every tonne of waste which goes to landfill. The benefit of diverting the expected tonnages of materials will avoid disposal fees over the coming years, money which could be used to provide benefits to the community.
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Page last updated: 01 October 2021